Art of Ragnarok
by Moriarty Joria
Summary: This is a godless place; we'll save ourselves. Story collection, Minakoverse. P3/P4/P5.
1. Prologue

**Art of Ragnarok**

 _Gods die, and when they truly die, they are unmourned and unremembered. Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end._

Neil Gaiman, American Gods

* * *

 **Prologue: January 2, 2017, shortly after the defeat of Yaldaoth**

For the first time in what felt like eons, the Velvet Room was quiet, peaceful, and without a guest. Gone were the prison walls, the cell bars, the malevolent aura that the so-called-god had left behind, and Igor sat smiling distantly in his great chair, in the center of a lavish elevator, the way Lavenza was sure it had always been.

That had been a relief for maybe a first twenty minutes or so, but by now, Lavenza was bored. Progress, such it was, seemed to have stopped, and even if that meant a moment's peace of mind, it was a little disappointing.

Igor – the real Igor; placid, contemplative and disturbingly unperturbable – was quietly running long fingers over the Tarot cards, probably apprising himself of some far-future event that he wouldn't bother to share. His fortune telling skills, reflected Lavenza, were incredible, but his communication skills were sadly lacking.

"Perhaps it was only a matter of time before a new god inhabited the minds of the human race," he mused, "usurped their dreams, and therefore our humble home. Hmm… It may be no more than a matter of time before we face such a one again. I suppose we'll be prepared, this time."

That got Lavenza's attention. Was he talking about Yaldabaoth, the one they'd just barely managed to expel from the Velvet Room, or some new god that he'd found in the cards? Was she supposed to be worrying about the past, or the future, and were they, in fact, actually different things? The whole concept of time got blurry after long enough spent in the Velvet Room. How long had it been? Ten years? Twenty years? No, definitely not that long. At any rate, Igor was unsettled, for him, and that was definitely "fascinating" as he would say.

"Maybe this time," ventured Lavenza, "will be the last time. It was supposed to end years ago, anyway, right? I was supposed to be the last 'savior of humanity,' so why-?"

"It will never end at all," retorted Igor, shaking his head., "Such is the nature of gods and mortals, and so it has been since long before time as we know it began. There will always be those who wish for the comforting, oppressive yoke of a higher power, and so there will always be forces to toy with the weak-minded humans you've rather fruitlessly sworn to protect. Fate, in this case, or destiny, if you prefer it that way, are irreversible, because that, in truth, is what humanity really wants...but you remember all that, do you not? Yes…how could we forget?"

Lavenza hadn't forgotten at all. In fact, she remembered a lot of things. She remembered the time long ago, when she'd be a human student at Gekkoukan high school; the one tasked with saving the world, along with the help of her closest friends and teammates. She remembered her time as The Great Seal, sort of, although as The Seal, she hadn't been exactly what you'd call 'conscious' or, in fact, exactly what you'd call 'alive.' She hadn't so much seen anything as felt or understood it, and feeling and understanding the suffering and anger of humanity had been incredibly stressful and definitely depressing. It would have been enough to turn almost anybody into a career pessimist, but she wasn't just anybody.

She remembered the time after that, only just recently, when the old gods had died. Igor had never given her a clear answer as to what it meant that the gods had 'died.' When she questioned him about it, he only repeated, the same way each time, that such was the nature of mortals and immortals since time immemorial, and that it was the humans, in the end, who destroyed the deities of their own creation.

She remembered the day when she'd been summoned back from The Great Seal, had been told that she'd fulfilled her purpose and that now, she had a new role. It had been then that Igor had taken her soul and fused it with the remnants to create something new; a new body, a new resident of the Velvet Room. He'd told her she wasn't 'Minako' anymore, that she'd have to leave 'Minako' behind, and so Theodore, her new brother, and Margaret and Elizabeth, her new sisters, had given her a name name…Lavenza. Igor had explained to her that she had a new duty, was the subject of a new fate, and then…well, not long after that, Yaldabaoth had come, and then she'd briefly been two people, which had been really, really weird. Sometimes, she still remembered things from that time as though she'd seen it from two totally different perspectives, which was a very difficult thing to describe and which occasionally made her nauseous.

With strengthened powers from endless battles against the greatest darkness, he had become Lavenza just when humanity apparently needed her most, to guide its most recent hero of justice down the path to apparent salvation. She was tired, she was getting bored of changing forms of and of watching the same fight – humanity versus the powers of evil – over and over again, but she was also angry, and she was ready as hell. She'd gotten sick of watching the people she loved, she people she'd thought she'd saved, go through trials of fire and near-death close shaves over and over and over again, trying as hard as they could to win an unbeatable war. There were tons of them now, some from SEES, some from a new group that had managed not to screw up on it's own lofty fight for the salvation of the universe, and Minako/Lavenza was just aching to fight on their side.

Now, just maybe, with the arrival of Akira Kurusu on the scene, maybe it was time. He had impressed her; he'd even impressed Igor. He had skills, and he wasn't fooled by the black and white ideas of 'justice' that existed in The Velvet Room. He got things on a deeper level, and if anybody was going to actually beat the unbeatable odds, they were gonna need Akira in their corner.

On Igor's desk, a black cat uncurled, stretched, yawned, and then settled again. Lavenza reached over and scratched Hope behind the ears; he yowled under his breath and made a half-hearted swat at her. Hope hated having his head scratched, which only proved that he'd really gotten in touch with what it meant to be a cat; capricious and ornery most of the time. He seemed to like that form, now that he'd spent so much time in the human world. Lavenza figured it wouldn't be long before he'd sneak out and return to his humans, especially since he was still pining after a girl, there. She couldn't blame him.

Lavenza would have killed, would have done anything to get her own old, human form back, but for her, that wasn't an option.

Instead, while Igor quietly read the future, she sat stroking humanity's Hope and dreaming fiercely of revolution.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER:** Please note; the following story will contain tasteful references to heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, and strong platonic bonds that are in no way romantic at all. It will contain the potential for major character death, major characters turning out to be, in fact, other major characters in disguise/different form. This is a non-canon story that takes place in the P3P FemProtagonist universe, as well as the Persona Golden Epilogue universe, and therefore backstories, events, character relationships and development which took place in Persona Arena and/or Persona Q may or may not be applicable.

 **You have been warned!**


	2. Mother's Day - Chapter One

**First Story: Mother's Day**

 **Summary:** Sojiro Sakura can't help but be suspicious when several famous new faces show up in his hometown, but everyone has to put their agendas on hold when the miracle of life unexpectedly takes center stage at Yusuke's art show.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Sojiro Sakura was honestly surprised when anybody showed up to Café Leblanc before noon. Of course, the café was open all morning, but nobody ever came for coffee until the twelve-thirty lunch rush, and even then they were usually in for a quick cup to-go.

Today, however, at eleven o'clock sharp, two women strode – and they really did _stride,_ like they meant business – into the shop. One was Sae Nijima, former prosecutor-turned-defense-attorney-in-training who Sojiro was uneasily happy to see. The other woman was a red-headed stranger; tall, striking, definitely attractive, but in a severe sort of way. She gave him a small, professional smile aNijima approached the counter.

"I hope," said Nijima, "that this isn't an awkward time."

"We're always open," Sojiro reminded her. How come, he wondered, no one ever remembered Leblanc had morning hours? The sign was right there on the door all day long. "What can I get you ladies?"

"Two house blends," returned Nijima. "Is that all right, Mitsuru?"

The other woman, presumably Mitsuru, inclined her head. "Whatever you recommend, of course. I hear wonderful things about the coffee here, and I wouldn't mind trying the curry some other day," she added, giving Sojiro another of her tight-lipped but not unfriendly smiles.

"Sakura-san," began Nijima, "allow me to introduce an old friend of mine from school. This is Mitsuru Kirijo. Mitsuru, this is Sojiro Sakura, the gentleman I spoke to you about this morning."

"You've been talking about me, huh?" Sojiro frowned. "It's been a long time since I've had a couple of good-looking women gossiping about me. I should probably be thrilled, but somehow I'm not buying it."

The Kirijo woman hastily shook her pretty head. "I assure you, you've nothing to be concerned about. I have business in town, and Sae has only been bringing me up to date on local events, and suggesting a few people I might turn to for assistance. Your name came up."

"Uh huh." Sojiro spoke to them over his shoulder as he brewed their coffee. "I see. Okay, so how can the owner of a little, frankly abandoned café in Yongen help the intrepid pioneer of one of the most well-known businesses in Japan? Of course, I've heard of the Kirijo Corporation; you're on the news ever third day, and I understand that you've recently purchased the local high school. Is that part of the 'business' you're talking about?"

"Indeed." Kirijo's smile expression didn't waver. "I do have something of a passion for education, and I understand that we showed up just in time. Apparently the school in question has been in need of new management for some months already. There are so many rumors going around that I'm not quite sure what to believe, but from everything I hear, all the upset has something to do with the notorious 'Phantom Thieves,' doesn't it?"

"Could be." Plunking two steaming cups of coffee down on the table, Sojiro met Kirijo's eyes as casually as he could." Can't say I pay much attention that kind of gossip."

"Sakura-san," murmured Nijima, "it's all right. You can talk to her, she's-!"

"Oh, my." Suddenly, Kirijo pointed up at the wall where Yusuke's painting was hanging. "That's…it's 'Sayuri,' isn't it? I've never seen it in person; I understood that it had been lost, or possibly destroyed."

Sojiro expected her to ask him the obvious questions; whether the painting was real, and, if so, where'd he'd gotten it. Instead, she just gazed at it thoughtfully for a moment, then turned back to her coffee and spent a moment quietly enjoying it.

"It's marvelous," she told him appreciatively. "Magnifique, absolument. It's been quite some time since I've gotten to sit down and just savor a cup of coffee like this."

"You should consider taking vacations more often," suggested Nijima.

Kirijo raised an eyebrow at her. "You're the one who hasn't taken more than a day off of work in…how long has it been? Two years? Three years? You know perfectly well that I've got several beach houses I'd be more than happy to lend you, but I suppose-!"

"You have to earn vacations." Nijima shook her head. "I've still got work to do. Maybe in another year or two, when I'm established as a lawyer with a practice of my own, I'll consider your beach suggestion."

Kirijo laughed.

"It's a date,' she said. "We'll go together…if we ever have the time."

Nijima grinned, which was something that Sojiro was sure he'd never seen before, and he marveled for a moment at the weirdness of two gorgeous women, laughing and bonding over the apparently hilarious fact that neither of them was ever going to get an honest day off.

Taking another sip of her coffee, Kirijo sighed, put the cup down, and gave Sojiro her full attention again.

"Now," she said, "speaking of business, there's something I'd like to ask you, Sakura-san. I'm certain that I'm not the first tourist who has come through with myriad questions about the mysterious Shadow Thieves, but please understand that I'm not a gossip or a daydreamer. I have very good reason to believe in the justice of the Phantom Thieves, and I have a request to put to them…and at least one of them lives here, isn't that right?"

Sojiro looked quickly from Kirijo to Nijima, noted Nijima's small nod, frowned, and made a quick decision.

"Akira Kurusu hasn't lived here for months," he told her. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I can't help. Nijima-san, though…she can put you in touch with the rest of the gang, no problem. Not sure why you came all this way when she could have given you what you needed without my getting involved."

Nijima only shook her head.

"Akira may be back in his home town," she said carefully, "but Futaba will be home soon, won't she? Mitsuru would like to speak to you both about Wakaba Isshiki's research, and I think-!"

The door banged open, and Sojiro, Kirijo, and Nijima all turned as Futaba Sakura rushed excitedly into the café.

"Sojiro!" Futaba bounced up and down impatiently on the balls of her feet. "Come ON, we're gonna be late! Everybody's already there! Can we _pleaaaase_ get going already? Oh, uh, we have customers. Ugh. Sorry…"

Managing to look somehow sheepish and seriously annoyed at the same time, Futaba collapsed into a booth and glared at the back of Kirijo's head.

Nijima checked her watch.

"Oh," she said, "My apologies, it's later than I realized; we'll have to finish this another time. That art exhibition I told you about will be starting in just a few minutes. Shall we?"

"Oh, Nijima-san!" Futaba, perked up and waved. "You're going too? That's awesome! Everybody'll be super stoked."

"In that case," suggested Sojiro, coming around the bar, "we might as well go together. I'll drive."

"Yes!" Futaba sprang up again and rushed out the door. Sojiro sighed.

"Just so you know," he added, turning back to Kirijo, "I'm not agreeing to anything yet, you got that? You're not the first person who's come to investigate Wakaba's research either, and if you weren't here with Nijima-san, I would have sent you packing twenty minutes ago, paying customer or not. You got something you want to say, we can discuss it later, if you want, but those kids haven't done anything wrong, and I'm not interested in helping you put them or me through another interrogation, or through any of the subsequent levels of hell. It's time to let them go back to school and be normal kids for as long as they can."

This time, Mitsuru didn't smile, and the hard lines of her face looked very serious indeed.

"Absolutely," she agreed quietly. "Sakura-san, I'd like to do just that."


	3. Mother's Day - Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Junpei Iori knew that he would never be an art kind of guy, but Chidori was smiling, and that, in his book, was a win.

They had rushed through some amazing local burgers at this place near the Shibuya train station just so that they and the rest of the available Shadow Operatives could pack themselves into a couple of crowded train cars to head for a run-down shack-turned-avant-garde-gallery where some art students were showing off their apparently prize-winning paintings. Junpei thought that most of the paintings looked sort of like what had used to happen when Koromaru got into Chidori's studio, knocking over paint cans and splattering enthusiastic, colorful starbursts all over the floor and the walls. Naoto had explained that this particular shack had once belonged to a famous art thief; one of the first victims of the now notorious "Phantom Thieves" whose reputation had only recently stopped being the topic of conversation in every online forum all over the country. That, Junpei thought, was much more interesting than paint splatters; that was, of course, the real reason that he and the rest of the team had bothered to show up. Well, that and the fact that he'd do pretty much anything when Chidori looked at him with those big, coquettish eyes of hers and said "please."

Junpei may not have quite gotten the whole art gallery thing, but Chidori was in her element. At the moment, she was standing in the center of the room, radiant, intense, lacy, and eight months pregnant, gazing up admiringly at a huge purple and brown canvas that was almost as tall as she was. There were swirls of red and gold all over it, little spirals, bursts of black and dark pools of something that might have been water, maybe. Junpei wasn't sure if this kind of painting counted as a "water color" or not.

Beside Chidori, Shinjiro sighed and, as usual, said what they were all thinking.

"I don't get it," he muttered. "What's this supposed to be, anyway? Eh, forget it, doesn't matter. Can we get out of here? I'm starting to get tired of this crap."

He looked over his shoulder at Rise, who just gave him a half-apologetic smile and a shrug. She, Junpei figured, was probably used to creative types, but she didn't look any more impressed by the painting than the rest of them.

"If you're tired," retorted Chidori, never taking her eyes off the painting, "then you should rest. We've brought your chair, if you want it." She gestured with one hand to a large wheelchair standing underneath the portrait of an uncomfortably chipper-looking nude a few feet away. Shinjiro scowled at it.

"If anybody should be sitting down," he suggested, "it's the lady who looks like she's about to pop any minute. Shouldn't you chill out a little?"

"Hey, man." Yosuke looked offended. "That's not cool; you can't talk to her like that."

"Yeah," agreed Akihiko, coming forward with the chair and a nasty glint in his eye. "Don't be grumpy just cause you're starting to ache, gramps. Here, if you want, you can take a nap."

"Shut up." Shinjiro took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, stared Akihiko directly in the eye, and then mumbled, "I hate all of you, seriously," but without much conviction.

As everyone else returned their attention to the paintings, Junpei noted that Shinjiro did actually sit down in the chair, looking a little winded, and that Akihiko took a moment to help him settle before discreetly returning his attention to the artwork.

"Well…" Frowning up at the giant painting, Yukiko did her best to sound bright and interested. "It's…certainly a very _pretty_ picture, don't you think? Isn't that right, Chie?"

"What? Oh, uh…yes? Yeah…very pretty." Chie looked even more bored than Junpei felt. "Right."

Chidori fixed both of them with a very long, blank look. "It is a depiction of the catharsis of the human soul; agony resolving itself into peace over the course of a single earth-shattering experience. It isn't pretty."

Nobody had anything to say to that. Yukiko and Chie just stared at each other while Yosuke, looking slightly unsettled, peered more closely at the painting as though expecting, this time, to see agony and ecstasy.

A slim young man, probably a higschooler, with dark hair and sharp features strode hesitantly up to Chidori, and made her a little bow.

"You…you understand it," he said quietly, sounding genuinely taken aback. "You truly see the depths and intricacies of the work. I'm…impressed. You may be the first. Do you like it?"

"Are you the painter?" Chidori turned to him. "No, I don't like it. It's not meant to be liked, I don't think."

"True," agreed the young man, warming to his subject, "it's rather meant to be appreciated; to be _felt_. I'm delighted that it's touched you…but, I apologize, where are my manners? My name is Yusuke Kitagawa, and yes, this is my piece. I can't tell you how much I value your consideration of my work today."

"Are a high school student?" Chidori now seemed to have abandoned the painting in favor of scrutinizing the artist. "You're not bad. What school do you go to?"

Kitagawa didn't seem at all put off by Chidori's blunt manner of asking questions, and Junpei, pleased that she'd found someone to chat with about her favorite subject and his least favorite, wandered off to see if he could find something more interesting to look at or somewhere to safely zone out.

Kanji turned around abruptly and nudged Junpei hard in the side.

"Hey," muttered Kanji, "isn't there something kind of, uh…weird about that kid? Familiar? I dunno, I can't…nah, it's nothing. It's probably nothing, forget I said anything."

Naoto, who'd been standing nearby idly listening to the increasingly enthusiastic conversation between Chidori and Kitagawa, nodded encouragingly at Kanji.

"If Mitsuru-san's information is correct," she reminded him, "then Kitagawa is one of them….the Shadow Thieves. I assume that's what you're referring to? I'm impressed, Kanji; that's very perceptive of you."

"What? Nah, nah, that's not what I meant at all. I said forget it, all right?" If anything, Kanji looked almost more uncomfortable.

At that moment, Junpei heard the familiar military-style click-click of high-heels on the wooden floor, and Mitsuru arrived amongst them with several others in tow; a professional-looking blond, an older guy in a white suit, and a skinny, red-headed teenage girl with glasses and headphones around her neck.

"Sorry we're late," announced Mitsuru. "Everyone, this is the friend I mentioned; Former Prosecutor Sae Nijima, soon to be a popular and sought-after defense attorney."

"Mitsuru," murmured Sae, looking slightly abashed, but Mitsuru ignored her.

"And this," she added, gesturing to the other two, "is Sojioro Sakura and his daughter, Futaba Sakura. They run a delicious coffee shop in Yongen which I strongly encourage you to patronize." She looked at Junpei and half-smiled. "I understand the curry is sensational."

"Nice," said Junpei. "I'll keep that in mind; thanks, senpai. Uh, nice to meet you guys. I'm Junpei Iori, and that's my wife, Chidori Yoshino-Iori. She's, uh…busy, at the moment. She's kind of an art nut, you know?"

The rest of the group went around introducing themselves, one by one, and, not for the first time, Junpei marveled at the size of the newest incarnation of the Shadow Operatives. After all, when he'd started in SEES only a few years ago, there had been just the five of them. As he always did in moments like this, he reflected with a pang that, no matter how many new members the Shadow Operatives got, they would always and forever be one person short. Would Mina, he wondered, be impressed that they'd gotten so much interest in the anti-shadow operations, or disappointed and maybe even a little snarky about the fact that Junpei had needed so much help in the first place; that he hadn't been able to keep his promise of having everything under control on his own?

He couldn't help it. He missed her a lot, even though his psychiatrist, and Yukari, AND Mitsuru had all reminded him that he was supposed to be thinking about the future, about things yet to be achieved, about legacies and possibilities, and about the family he was about to start. He was absolutely not supposed to be dwelling on the past, which he knew from spending enough time with Akihiko and Shinjiro was a whole lot of bad news and no way to live any kind of life…but he missed her.

Maybe, he'd started to realize, maybe it was okay to miss her. Maybe the ache that popped up now and again wasn't actually supposed to go away, and maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe that was just how grieving worked, or…then again, maybe not. Luckily for him, he thought, smiling over at Chidori who now seemed to be caught up in a heated argument about the painting, he hadn't had a ton more opportunities to experience grief, and to a great extent he owned Mina for that, too.

Junpei looked again at the painting, the one that was supposed to represent catharsis, and he tried thinking about it really, really hard…but it still just looked like a lot of colorful crap, to him. Still, the concept behind it was sound, maybe. He sort of got that part.

Naoto tapped him on the shoulder, drew his attention to where the red-headed girl, Futaba, had rushed over to join a group of kids who were collecting against the wall on the other side of the room. Junpei watched them for a moment, noted the way they, probably unconsciously, glanced over their shoulders and checked their surroundings every few minutes, like people who were used to watching each other's backs.

"That's them, huh?" He jerked a thumb at them, and Naoto nodded. "Man…is it weird for me to say something like, 'aw, but they're just kids?' Yeah….yeah, that's definitely weird. I'm not, like, old or anything, but still-!"

Behind Junpei, something made a thudding sound, and Chie shrieked. Junpei whirled around just in time to see Chidori sink down to her knees next to a pedestal which she'd apparently knocked over, sending a mercifully very sturdy ceramic vase rolling across the floor.

"Chidori." Mitsuru was at her side in an instant. "Are you all right? Is it time?"

Time?

For a long moment, Junpei was confused. The women were all nodding at each other, clustering around Chidori, heping her up, exchanging urgent, knowing glance and whispers.

"Ch-Chidori?" Junpei pushed through to be at his wife's side. "What's going on? Hey, are you-?"

Chidori suddenly convulsed all over, then shrieked in a very uncharacteristic, almost animal way that sent a chill straight down Junpei's spine.

"Move." Unceremoniously, Shinjiro shoved Junpei out of the way, gathered Chidori up, and deposited her very gently in the wheelchair. Turning to Akihiko, he jerked his head at the door on the other side of the room. "Come on, we gotta hurry. You." To Sakura, the coffee-shop guy, Shinjiro asked "you got a hospital around here? Aki, gimme your phone."

"Ahhhhhhh!" Chidori shuddered, tensed up, groaned, and then collapsed again into the chair. "Junpei-!"

Junpei grabbed her hand and, finally, the panic began to set in.

"Shit," he muttered, "shit…shit, shit, wait, NOW? Now? But it's only…wait, does it hurt? Are you, uh…I mean, is it bad? Wait, of course it's bad, it's…damn, damn, damn…! I mean, don't worry it's cool, you're gonna be okay, we just…what the hell are we gonna-?"

"Calm down," snapped Mitsuru. Junpei shut up instantly; some habits never died. "I understand that the closest medical facility is a clinic in Yongen; is that correct?"

"The local hospital's under renovations at the moment," agreed Sojiro, looking worried. "Just our luck; the nearest open one's too far away, and there's traffic all over because of the exhibition and some celebrity who's apparently making appearances in town."

Rise looked instantly guilty, and then suddenly defensive.

"Well, hey," she said, glaring around at the others, "I mean, it's not necessarily me. It COULD be Yukari, right?"

"My apologies," Mitsuru was saying to Sakura, "but we'll need the use of your car one more time."

"No problem." Sakura turned around and made a start for the door, but before he'd taken more than a step, Akihiko was rushing past him, wheeling a terrified, stricken-looking Chidori in front of him.

"Chidori!" Junpei started to run after them. Unexpectedly, he found Kanji keeping pace with him.

"Breathe, man," suggested Kanji, disturbingly rational in a word that had just erupted with absolute nonsense and Chidori's premature screams. "You just gotta breathe, aright?"


	4. Mother's Day - Chapter Three

**Author's Note:** The prologue, as some of you identified, just felt…wrong. The characters weren't portrayed correctly. I've gone back and totally rewritten it, and I do think it's much better now. Please check it out if you have the time.

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Maybe half an hour later, the Takemi Clinic was jam-packed full of people. Sojiro reflected that this Kirijo woman had an awful lot of employees…or maybe they were friends, or fans? He wasn't sure. Either way, Dr. Takemi had already shooed several of them out. Sojiro had heard one of the girls say something about waiting around the corner, but had a feeling that they'd be disappointed. These out-of-towners weren't going to find much to amuse themselves with in Yongen.

"It's been ages already," muttered a tall, nervous-looking, dark-haired boy with glasses; the one they called "Kanji." "You think she's okay?"

Mitsuru shook her head and held up a quelling hand. "It's barely been twenty minutes. These things take time. If anything was amiss, no doubt the doctor would have already informed us."

The guy named Junpei, the pregnant lady's husband, was sitting closest to the exam-room door, his head in his hands. The hulking young man with the wheelchair sat silently one on one side of him with the silver-haired body-builder type on the other. Sojiro hadn't gotten either of their names, but they had formed an obviously disconcerted block of masculine silence and solidarity over there in the corner, only glancing up occasionally when a high-pitched scream came through the door.

"Oh man," whispered Junpei. "Oh man, oh man…"

"Shaddup," muttered the wheelchair guy, not unkindly. "It's gonna be fine. You gotta believe in her."

"Yeah," agreed the body builder. "I mean, come on. Think of everything Chidori's survived already. It's not like one little baby's gonna-!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The woman behind the door shrieked again, and Junpei shuddered. Both of the other two men just looked nervous.

"The statistics for premature birth prior to the ninth month," began Naoto Shirogane, who Sojiro recognized from frequent television appearances, "are…unsettling at best."

"Seriously," hissed Rise Kujikawa, the world-famous pop idol, "do you really think we need to be talking about that right now?"

Sojiro reflected that a weirdly large number of these people were celebrities, and that, if anything, it would only make the traffic situation worse around here than it already was. Maybe Kirijo-san was an even bigger deal than he'd realized. These people were probably all associates of hers; maybe they used their fame to help her market their products, or maybe she'd used her products to help them build their names. Either way, he didn't love the idea of this part of town becoming a hot-bed for journalists and autograph seekers again; not after that had happened with the Phantom Thieves. Hadn't they already been through enough of that crap?

The door to the clinic swung open again, and a familiar-looking girl rushed in, brunette and very fit, probably another celebrity, although Sojiro couldn't quite place this one. With her were a slim gray-haired guy and a wide-eyed woman in a blue-turtleneck and blouse.

"Junpei?" The brunette dashed over to him, while the other two hurried to opposite sides of their room to exchange hushed words with their friends. "Junpei, oh my god, are you okay? I just heard; Mitsuru called us. How's Chidori doing? What does the doctor say?"

"Hey, sit down, Yukari." The wheelchair guy gave her a stern look. "Doctor hasn't said a damn thing yet; she's a little busy."

"Boy," muttered Junpei, "am I glad to see you."

Yukari gave him a comforting little pat on the shoulder, and he gave her a weak sort of smile. They fell into conversation as the grey-haired boy settled in next to the pop idol.

"Hey," whispered Rise, "Yu, where've you been? Oh, and Fuuka, too…but where's Aigis?"

"She's still at the school," said the guy named Yu. "She's finishing up a couple of things. Hey, there are a bunch of kids just hanging around outside looking nervous. One of them looks like-!"

"Sojiro!" Yet again, the clinic door opened, and this time Futaba came in. Sojiro was surprised to see that now Akira was with her, looking a little mussed from what must have been a long train trip. "Hey, look who I found!"

"Hey." Sojiro nodded at the boy. "Welcome back. Seems you showed up at kind of a weird time."

"I know." Akira glanced over Sojiro's shoulder at the throng of anxious people in the clinic. "Everyone's worried. They heard about what happened from Futaba."

"Tell your friend Yusuke that I'm sorry the show got interrupted like that," said Sojiro. "Seems like it was a success, though, so there's that. Everything's fine, here. You and your friends should head back to Leblanc and catch up. I'll be home when I can."

"All right," began Akira. "Actually, Sakura-san, I wanted to ask you if-!"

He was cut off by another scream from the woman behind the door, and then there was another, very different, much smaller scream; a wail from a tiny pair of new lungs.

The girl named Yukari gasped. "Oh! Junpei!"

The pop idol put both hands to her mouth in surprise. "Wait, was that-?"

The exam room door opened, and Dr. Takemi stuck her head out. The entire room went instantly silent and still, as if everyone in it was holding their breath.

Dr. Takemi looked tired, but she smiled and strode over to Junpei.

"Congratulations, Mr. Iori," she said. "It's girl." Glancing up for a moment at the very full clinic, she narrowed her eyes and muttered, "My god, there are a ton of you people still here."

"Um, D-doctor," Junpei was stammering, "How's, uh, Chidori?"

"Your wife is gonna be just fine," Dr. Takemi assured him, "but I suggest that she stay here overnight to rest. It wasn't any easy birth, so you'd better be extra nice to her for a few days."

Junpei's whole body sagged as he breathed a huge sigh of relief, which the rest of the room echoed, one by one. "I-I can definitely do that," he managed. "Oh man, Dr. I can't thank you enough. Can I…I mean, is it cool for me to go see her, now, or-?"

"Of course it is," interrupted Takemi. "She's asking for you, and you'll want to meet your daughter, right?"

"Daughter?" Junpei blinked.

The guy in the wheelchair snorted a laugh. "What, did you miss that part?"

"Hey, give the guy a break; it's a lot all at once," retorted the body-builder.

Yukari gave Junpei a big smile. "Junpei," she said, a little too slowly, almost as though she was speaking to a preschooler, "Junpei, you're a daddy! It's a girl!"

"A girl." Junpei stared blankly at Yukari, and then up at the doctor. "Um…"

"What? Don't tell me you're disappointed that it's a girl." Yukari's smile faded fast. "You can't be serious."

"Whoa, n-nah, it's not….'s not that at all," whispered Junpei, furiously shaking his head. "I'm just, um…"

"He's just a little overwhelmed, that's all." The girl named Fuuka came quietly over and gave Junpei's hand a quick squeeze. "Don't worry; everything's okay, now. You need to go and see your family, all right? We'll be right here when you get back."

"Right," agreed Yukari. "We're not going anywhere. See you soon, okay? Go on, hurry!"

Uncertainly, Junpei took a step toward the door, and Dr. Takemi took him firmly by the arm and steered him into the exam room. The door closed with a click behind them, leaving everyone staring at each other, no one entirely sure what to say.

"Oh thank god." The pop idol was smiling from ear-to-ear, and she wasn't bad at smiling. Sojiro was starting to understand why this kid was so popular after all; she really did have that one _look_. "I was starting to get really worried!"

"Do you think Junpei-kun's going to be all right?" Fuuka looked a little doubtful. "I…well, honestly I've never imagined him as a father. To think he'd be the very first one of us with a baby! I'm a little surprised….oh, not that it's a bad thing or anything, of course!"

"Have some faith in the guy," muttered Kanji. "He'll figure it out. How hard can it be, right?"

The pop idol just rolled her eyes and laughed. "Just ask your 'Ma,'" she suggested. "I bet she can tell you some really great stories about tough parenting…"


	5. Mother's Day - Chapter Four

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry about the infrequent updates. It may be a while before I can update regularly again. Thanks for your patience.

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

Junpei had a complex history with hospitals; he had all sorts of mixed memories, good and bad associations. When he thought about it nowadays, it felt sometimes like he'd spent the greater part of his junior year of high school in and out of hospital rooms. There had been all those times when he'd gone with Minako to visit Shinjiro, even though she'd told him she'd be perfectly fine going alone. Akihiko usually went with her, but when he didn't, Junpei just hadn't felt comfortable letting her stay there all by herself with a half-dead man who probably couldn't hear a word she said. He'd stood by awkwardly, waiting with tissues in his pocket, just in case, while Minako chatted merrily at comatose Shinjiro about the fun she'd had during the school day or their progress against the shadows. Sometimes she cried a little bit, and Junpei staunchly pretended not to notice, even though that made him angry at himself and he could never quite explain why.

Then, of course, Junpei had spent all that time visiting Chidori in the hospital, which had been frustrating, exhilarating, devastating, and incredible. Junpei realized now that love, all kinds of love, probably always felt like that. It hadn't been anything so unusual, in the grand scheme of things, but remembering it still gave him a little thrill every time he found himself in a hospital corridor.

Chidori, on the other hand, hated hospitals, and Junpei couldn't blame her. She had a history; and besides, while he'd been falling in love in her hospital room, she'd been essentially imprisoned. It had gotten complicated. Love always got complicated.

Now, standing in the doorway of the clean white exam room at the Takemi Clinic, Junpei watched his wife lying peacefully on the bed, eyes closed, arms folded across her chest, face and hair a mess, looking exhausted, and he wondered stupidly, belatedly, if maybe he should have insisted on being in here with her when it all happened. Would that have been better fro her? Damnit, she'd probably been really scared…

"Uh, hey," he murmured, kneeling down by the side of the bed and giving Chidori what he hoped wasn't a shaky smile. "How're you feeling? It sounded kinda rough in here…I'm sorry."

Chidori opened her eyes, blinked up at him for a moment, and then smiled.

"Junpei," she said, "look."

She shifted on the bed, unfolded her arms, and Junpei realized that she'd been holding, no, protecting something. The tiny pink something shivered, twitched, and then opened its little black eyes and gazed up solemnly at Junpei.

"Um." Junpei swallowed hard, wasn't sure what to say. "H-hi."

His baby daughter made a little noise that sounded sort of like a guinea pig, which was funny and slightly absurd. Junpei grinned…and then found that he couldn't figure out how to stop grinning again.

"She's perfect," said Chidori, matter-of-factly.

"Y-yeah," agreed Junpei. "Good job."

Chidori raised an eyebrow at him. "You too."

They both laughed.

"Here." With an effort, Chidori sat up in the bed, winced a bit, then very carefully lifted the baby up. "Don't you want to see her?"

"See her?" Junpei hadn't yet taken his eyes off her. "What do you mean?"

"Here," repeated Chidori impatiently. "Take your daughter, Junpei. Hold her."

Junpei recoiled in alarm. "Whoa, whoa, wait, me? I don't know how to-!"

"It's not difficult," insisted Chidori. "She won't bite you, I think."

Chidori waited, but Junpei, gazing down at the baby, thought that maybe this was a bit too much of a leap for him, all at once. The baby was still staring at him, as patient and quiet as her mother, totally calm, which he was sure babies weren't supposed to be, like, ever.

"She's seriously really small," he managed.

"Yes," agreed Chidori. "Babies are small."

"Yeah, uh, I know that," muttered Junpei but-!"

"She was premature," Chidori went on. "She is unusually tiny, but the doctor says that she is healthy and will survive. Don't worry."

Junpei cleared his throat. He hadn't consciously realized until this moment that there had been any question of his daughter surviving. "Oh, uh…that's good."

Chidori was still watching him expectantly, and so Junpei, steeling himself for a venture into the unknown, very, very carefully reached out and accepted his daughter into his arms. She was disturbingly soft.

"Ack," he said. "I, uh, holy crap, she's so small and…um, squishy? Wait, that's not the word. Yikes, what if I drop her?"

"Don't," suggested Chidori.

"Right." Junpei experimented a little with pressure, afraid to squeeze too hard. The baby, apparently uncomfortable, begin to fidget and squirm, and this time, the noise she made was a parrot squawk, not a guinea pig sound. She was, apparently, well versed in various pet-shop noises.

"Support her head," commanded Chidori, "with your arm; like this." She demonstrated with a roll of towel that was draped over the edge of the bed, and Junpei tried to copy her. After a little maneuvering, he managed to get the entire baby into his arms, so that both head and legs were somewhat supported. The baby stopped squawking.

"Good." Chidori nodded. "Now, what are we going to name her?"

Unlike just about everything else that had happened in the last five minutes, Junpei had actually anticipated this question.

"Well," he said, "um, I'm kinda glad she's a girl, actually, because I thought, if we had a girl, we might name her after some flowers. You know, because you like flowers, and flowers also gave you life. Now you're giving her life, so it sort of fits."

Chidori chuckled. "It's lovely. You have your sweet moments, you know."

"Heh, I try." Junpei knew that his flower explanation had been a little lame, but it was hard to go wrong with giving a girl a flower name. There were, after all, a number to choose from, anyway, and at least none of the other kids at school could make fun of her for being named after a perfectly respectable flower, right?

"I like Sayuri," he said. "Lilies are cool. Besides, it's got a badass meaning. I'd hate to call her something like 'chastity' or 'faith,' or 'beauty.' That'd be boring. You know, every girl in her class is gonna end up being 'chastity,' which is kinda creepy, if you ask me. It's not like my Dad spent a ton of time freaking out about my chastity."

Chidori nodded.

"I had thought," she said unexpectedly, "that you might want to call her 'Minako.'"

Junpei rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck.

"Nah," he said, "that's okay. Sayuri's prettier, and besides, what if we found Minako again, someday? I mean, what if she came back from the seal? Then there'd be two Minakos, and it could get confusing. We'd end up calling out 'Minako,' and they'd both come running."He laughed, but Chidori didn't. "Aw, come on, I'm joking."

"No," returned Chidori, "you aren't. Junpei, people don't come back from the dead."

Junpei shrugged, then delicately returned Sayuri to his wife's arm, leaned in, and gave Chidori a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Look who's talking," he mumbled.


	6. Mother's Day - Chapter Five

**Author's Note:** I'm under what my husband calls "medical house arrest" again.

I swear I haven't abandoned the story and I don't plan to I'm just very slow. Everything is very slow. My brain feels very slow.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

The waiting room was now at absolute capacity. There must have been thirty, maybe even forty people in there; all of that kid Junpei's friends, and now all the Shadow Thieves too.

Sojiro flinched and reminded himself not to think about them as the "Shadow Thieves." Those days were over, and if he thought that way, he'd risk saying it out loud, and that'd end in tears, or possibly in arrests. Or, would it? Nijima wasn't a prosecutor anymore, and there wasn't anybody on the police force to protect them.

Sojiro sighed. Life, at least, was never boring. Maybe it would never be boring again…and that was an unsettling thought.

"Oh," murmured Fuuka into the anxious silence. "I've…I've never been present at the birth of a child before. I'm not sure what to say."

"Try, 'Congratulations,'" suggested Yukari.

"Yeah," agreed Akihiko, "or, 'good luck.'"

Mitsuru laughed. Sojiro glanced over at her and realized for the first time that the one guy, Yosuke, or something, hadn't taken his eyes off Mitsuru for the last maybe twenty minutes. When Mitsuru laughed, Yosuke grinned, and the girl next to him, Chie, just rolled her eyes.

The door to the exam room suddenly opened, and everyone caught their collective breath.

Junpei was back, beaming nervously from ear to ear.

"Well?" Yukari glared at him. "Well?!"

"Um, yeah, it's…it's a girl," replied Junpei.

"We knew that," muttered Shinjiro. "Anyway, everything okay? Chidori's doing all right?"

"Oh, y-yeah!" Junpei nodded hurriedly. "She's okay! She's…the doctor says they're both gonna be fine but they're tired. I said I wanted to bring her out to meet you, but-!"

"Don't be an idiot," interrupted Shinjiro. "You can't do that. She needs her rest. They both do."

"The hell do you know so much about babies?" asked Akihiko, raising an eyebrow. Shinjiro ignored him.

"Oh, does Shinjiro-san have a little brother or sister, maybe? Actually, I don't think we've ever asked about your family." From across the room, Yukiko smiled, but Shinjiro just looked uncomfortable and said nothing. Chie nudged Yukiko in the ribs and hissed something under her breath, and Yukiko looked abashed. "S-sorry…"

"Aww…" Yukari looked disappointed. "But I wanted to meet her! Oh, well. I guess we'll have to wait until another day. Oh, wait, what's her name?"

For some reason, half the people in the room tensed up at the question. Akihiko, Mitsuru, Shinjiro, and Fuuka all looked momentarily uncertain, nervous.

"Sayuri," said Junpei. "We're gonna call her Sayuri."

There was a moment of hesitation, and then the tension in the room began to relax.

"Oh!" Yukari looked surprised. "Oh, that's pretty…I just thought-!"

"It's a beautiful name," interrupted Mitsuru smoothly. "Congratulations, Junpei, to you and yours. We look forward to welcoming Sayuri to our family."

"Yeah, man," agreed Kanji, crossing to shake Junpei firmly and somewhat aggressively by the hand. "Congrats, okay? This is awesome!"

One by one, everyone in the room, except for the _former_ Shadow Thieves, crossed to shake Junpei's hand to give him a few words of congratulations. Junpei looked a little overwhelmed, definitely confused, and more and more deliriously happy by the minute. Sojiro found himself smiling, too.

Against the door, not really a part of the big party taking place in the waiting room, Akira and his friends whispered amongst themselves.

Yusuke was gazing at Junpei, looking slightly stunned and deeply awed.

"Sayuri," he whispered. "It…must be some sort of serendipity."

"It's just a popular name," Ann reminded him. "Don't get so worked up, Yusuke."

Yusuke, however, didn't look at all convinced.

Beside Sojiro, Shinjiro gave Junpei a clap on the shoulder. Junpei turned to face him.

"I dunno," mumbled Junpei, "do you think that maybe I shoulda named her-?"

"Nah," said Shinjiro, shaking his head. "I think it's fine. It's a nice name. I bet she's proud of you."

"You think so?" Junpei looked almost childishly hopeful.

"Yeah," agreed Shinjiro. "I mean…of course she is."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** A short little ending to a happy prologue story. I know that we're missing some friends, here; notably Aigis, Koro, and Ken, but don't worry, we'll see them. This fic is gonna be a big one with a lot of characters, so things are gonna have to happen gradually. A lot of people are off setting other important plot points in motion.


	7. Cognitive Silence

**Author's Note:** I wrote another chapter today! That's almost three pages in one day, better than I've done in months, AND I did some dishes and a friend came to visit. It's been a very nice day. Maybe tomorrow I will do even more!

* * *

 **Second Story: Cognitive Silence**

 **Summary:** One-shot. While in the midst of a troublesome new missing person's case, Dojima and Nanako both have questions for Adachi.

* * *

In Tohru Adachi's high-security cell in the city, he was having fun watching a very uncomfortable security guard losing an argument with a twelve-year-old girl.

"Look," sighed the guard, "for the last time, Miss Dojima, you can't be here. You don't have authorization, and your father gave very specific orders to keep you out. How did you even get in here, anyway?"

"The other security guard – the NICE one – let me in," retorted Nanako, sweetly. "Adachi-san promised to help me with my homework, and I have to do my homework. Dad wants me to do well in school, right? So, he won't mind if I'm here. It'll be fine!"

"Ugh," muttered the guard, glaring at Adachi for, Adachi felt, no particular reason. People usually glared at him, even when he was sitting quietly and minding his own damn business. He supposed that might have something to do with the whole serial murder angle.

"What the hell kind of homework," the guard went on, "is a killer going to be able to help you with, huh?"

"Ah-ah-ah," murmured Adachi, waving an infuriating finger at the guard. "Language. She's just a kid."

The guard seethed.

"Aw, come on, forget it," muttered Adachi, finally starting to get bored with the whole thing. "Nanako'll be fine, seriously. She's perfectly safe; she's not even my type."

"Why, you-!" The guard, now purple in the face, took a step closer to Adachi, but then something attached to his belt began to buzz. He picked up his phone, glanced at it, and turned on his heel, reluctantly.

"Dojima-san," he said as he left the room, "will have something to say about this. You just wait."

Nanako waved cheerily at the guard. She and Adachi both watched him storm off.

"Temper, temper," sighed Adachi, shaking his head.

"So," asked Nanako, wide-eyed, "I'm not your type?"

"Huh?" Adachi blinked at her. "What are you-? Oh, look, that was just something I said to scare the guard away. I mean, no, obviously you're not my type. You're not, uh…I just meant that I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?"

"Why not?" Nanako smiled, appeared unfased.

Adachi rolled his eyes. "Because I don't feel like it. You said you've got homework?"

Nanako unzipped her backpack and pulled out what looked like a newspaper article that someone had printed off the internet. She waved it at Adachi, and he snatched it from her and took a look. The article read,

 **MAJOR PSYCHOLOGY BREAKTHROUGH**

Recent developments in the notorious "Phantom Thieves" case has led to a major discovery! Research by respected scientist Wakaba Isshiki reveals the existence of a world inside the human mind, which experts have nicknamed "the cognitive world," full of things called "Palaces" that represent the degradation of the human heart. Is this the end of the world as we know it? Have humans finally gone too far?

Adachi snorted a derisive laugh.

"Where," he asked, "did you get this? Take it from a police detective; this doesn't come from a credible source. You can't believe everything you hear or read. This looks like garbage."

"It's not garbage," returned Nanako coolly, "I think it's the truth. I think you know all about it. Is this the world inside the TV where you threw those people so that the shadow monsters could kill them?"

For once, Adachi had no response. He gritted his teeth and didn't meet her eyes. This was not a conversation he'd expected to be having today.

"Look," he began, taking a deep breath.

"I remember what you said, all those times," Nanako went on. "I remember you said you killed them by throwing them into a magical world full of monsters in the TV, only the monsters made them kill themselves. Is this that world? Is it the cognitive world? Because if it is, then maybe Dad will finally believe you."

Adachi looked her straight in the eye at last.

"Your Dad," he told her, "is never going to believe any of that story; not my story, and not the one in this dumbass news article."

"Language," Nanako reminded him. Adachi ignored her.

"He's a detective," he went on, "and what's worse, he's actually a pretty good detective, although if you ever tell him I said, that, I'll never let you in here again, got it? He's not gonna believe a bunch of mumbo-jumbo from the internet, so let's just drop this right here. You said you had homework. What is it?"

"If Dad could believe you," Nanako insisted, "it would make him feel a lot better. I think it would make you feel a lot better, too."

Adachi sighed. "I feel just fine, thanks," he said. "Except, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with this 'let's-get-mommy-and-daddy-bacl-together' game. You're not a little kid anymore, Nanako, you know exactly how stupid this is."

Nanako was indignant. "It's not stupid! Tell me the truth!"

"You honestly believe that finding out that his former partner _really_ killed a bunch of people by pushing them into another universe that _really_ exists is gonna make your Dad sleep better at night?" Adachi gave her a doubtful look. "It's been five years. I'm behaving myself; I'm off the radar. We're not talking about this, and if you don't get out of here, I'm gonna do some crazy shit to scare the crap out of that guard so that nobody ever lets you back in my cell again."

"No," said Nanako simply, "you aren't. You won't. You'd get lonely."

"You sure?" asked Adachi, half getting out of his chair and giving her his best, very slightly menacing smile.

"I'm sure." Nanako shrugged, then grabbed back the news article out of his fingers and shoved it into her backpack again. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll ask Big Bro…whenever he gets back."

For a moment, Nanako looked annoyed.

"He hasn't been back in _weeks_ ," she added, with a little sigh.

"He's busy saving the world with the power of friendship," explained Adachi sympathetically. "Kumbaya, and all that super-hero shit. Can't be helped."

Adachi gave Nanako a comforting little pat on the forearm, and she tried to suppress a smile, but didn't quite succeed.

There was the sound of the door unlocking behind them, and then Dojima stormed into the room.

"Adachi! Nanako? The guard told me you'd showed up. What are you doing here?" Dojima glared.

Nanako and Adachi looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Homework," they said together. Dojima's scowl only deepened.

Dojima looked tired, thought Adachi, but that wasn't unusual. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, and Adachi could hear him grinding his teeth.

"Working hard, huh?" Adachi shot him a half-sympathetic smile. Turning to Nanako, he added, winking at her, "I deduce, Watson, that our dear Holmes is working on a pretty tricky case!"

Nanako giggled.

Dojima ignored Adachi, and shot a stern look at Nanako.

"Nanako," he said, "go home. Adachi and I need to talk."

He obviously wasn't in the mood for jokes. Adachi let the smile drop off his face.

"But, Dad-!" began Nanako.

Dojima didn't even let her finish the sentence.

"Go home," he growled. "Now. I'll see you later."

Nanako, who'd lived with the pride of the Inaba police department for twelve long years, knew better than to argue with him when that tone was in his voice. Looking even more annoyed and a little worried, she pulled her backpack onto her shoulders and slunk from the room, glancing back once at Adachi before disappearing into the prison hall.

Adachi looked up at Dojima.

"Honestly, officer," he said, shrugging, "I'm innocent. I've got an alibi and everything." He pointed at the big lock on the prison door, raised an eyebrow.

Dojima was silent for a long moment. Then, he took a deep breath.

"My old senpai," he began quietly, "transferred to the city two years ago. He did me a few favors, back when he was still working in Inaba, and the other day he called me up to ask me if I could help _him_ out with something. Seems there's a kid who's gone missing; Goro Akechi, a big-name boy detective who got pretty famous not long before those Shadow Thieves started making the news. You heard of him?"

"What's the deal with all these kid detectives, huh?" Adachi shook his head, waxed philosophical. "Is there something new in the school lunches these days, or what? Somehow, Japan keeps turning out baby prodigies, like that Naoto Shirogane, and now this…wait, what was his name?"

"Goro Akechi," repeated Dojima. "There's plenty of reason to believe that he was involved with Masayoshi Shido, who is being investigated for his alleged engineering of several murders, specifically that of Wakaba Isshiki, a gifted scientist who discovered something have to do with…" Here, Dojima paused, sighed under his breath, and began again. "The 'palaces' that exist within the 'cognitive world,' of the human mind."

"Oh." Adachi winced. "Come on…not you, too."

Dojima didn't look any happier than Adachi felt.

"It's all too bizarre to be true," Dojima was muttering, half to himself, half to Adachi. "It sounds like nothing more than a kid's comic, or bad dream, but…"

"Preaching to the choir," mumbled Adachi.

"Adachi." Unexpectedly, Dojima reached out and put a heavy hand on Adachi's shoulder. Startled, Adachi looked up and found Dojima fixing him with a very serious, very severe expression.

"Tell me everything," said Dojima, "again, from the very beginning. Tell me the whole story."

Adachi felt the earnestness of Dojima's gaze boring into the place where his soul would probably have been, if he had one, which he doubted.

"Nah," he said softly, shaking off Dojima's hand and smiling to himself. "Nah…Sorry, but I've got nothing new to say."

* * *

 **Author's End Note:** Oh man, I haven't written Adachi in a long time. It never stops being fun.


	8. Sayuri - Chapter One

**Author's Note:** I actually felt pretty good today, but I'd promised Dag I would stay home, so I did. This story took longer to write than I'd hoped; it's a short piece, but there's a lot going on here that'll be important later, so I wanted to get it absolutely right…

* * *

 **Third Story: Sayuri**

 **Synopsis:** Igor brings Lavenza/Minako a special gift in the form of an unwelcome guest.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Chidori and Sayuri were transferred to the local hospital soon after the premature birth. Amazingly, seventy-two hours later, the doctors were assured that both mother and baby were as healthy as they could be, and discharged them both. Aigis arrived that afternoon in a rental car to drive Junpei and his family back to their hotel.

Aigis, Fuuka, and Yukari tended to Chidori's accommodations, making sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed. While the girls fussed over his wife, Junpei sat in the living room, gingerly holding his new baby daughter and listening to her coo and occasionally squeak in her sleep. She drooled, too, all over his sleeve, but he was too terrified of disturbing her to risk getting up and grabbing a napkin.

It had been, reflected Junpei, a hell of a week so far. Had it only been a few days ago that they'd all arrived in the city?

The Phantom Thieves were the coolest of the cool, and they were the biggest news around, so of course he and the rest of the Shadow Operatives had been following their story for months before the big finale. None of them, though, had really suspected the Phantom Thieves of being persona users until the reports had started coming in about Wakaba Isshiki's research on palaces, which apparently the Kirijo corporation had already sort of known about? Junpei wasn't totally sure about that last bit, but it had been obvious to him that Mitsuru hadn't been so surprised when even the guys on the news had started talking about "palaces" and how "changing people's hearts" might have something to do with some mysterious other world.

Obviously, the Shadow Operatives were going to need to investigate all this, so Mitsuru had done what she probably figured was the logical thing, and had bought the local school, like you do if you're rolling in cash. Before long, she'd found a bunch of her operatives teaching positions, or jobs at local stores; all places where they could keep an eye on the situation while Mitsuru sweet-talked some guy named Sakura into giving up a little more information about what was really going on.

At least, that had been the plan until Chidori had decided to have her baby. Ever since then, things had mostly been a blur, and Junpei was having a hard time caring too much about the mission, or the plan, or the Shadow Operatives right now. He was freaking out about something way more important, and now his sleeve was absolutely soaked, which, weirdly, was awesome.

Suddenly, Sayuri yawned right into Junpei's face, then blinked up at him and fell asleep with her nose all scrunched up like a hamster's.

"Right," agreed Junpei, nodding and then yawning himself. "Ugh, you and me both, kid. I don't blame you."

He changed his position a little on the couch, shifted Sayuri ever-so-slightly in his arms, and was out like a light before he knew it.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in the Velvet Room.

This wasn't that weird, really. Junpei had dreamt about the Velvet Room tons of times since, years ago, they'd learned the truth about the fall and about the Seal. His brain brought him back here, sometimes, especially when he had reason to reflect on his high school years.

Over the past several harrowing, incredible days, Junpei had been doing a lot of reflecting. He was almost proud of himself for all the deep thinking.

Sayuri snorted in Junpei's arms, and squirmed a little bit. Junpei looked down at her and stared.

"Oh…oh man," he said. "What are you doing in this dream? Jeez, Chidori's going to kill me…I think. Maybe? This, uh, _is_ just a dream, right?"

In the Velvet Room, reality was sort of a nebulous concept, anyway. Junpei was never sure if he was completely dreaming or not. Either way, he definitely wasn't supposed to have brought the baby out of the house, and he wasn't totally sure if bringing her into a dream counted as breaking that rule.

"Welcome," murmured Igor, smiling slightly, "to the Velvet Room. Oh, my…what's this? I see you have brought us a new, surprise guest. How intriguing. Lavenza? Won't you come and greet our new arrivals?"

From out of the velvet-blue shadows, a blond young woman appeared. She was small, wiry, with fierce golden eyes that were somehow familiar.

"Welcome," she began enthusiastically, "to the…oh!"

Suddenly, she stopped, and her mouth fell open into a pretty little "o" shape. She stared wide-eyed at Junpei, and he stared back at her, waiting for her to finish the sentence.

"Wait," she whispered, glancing quickly over her shoulder at Igor, "how-?"

"I don't believe that you two have been introduced," interrupted Igor smoothly. "Master Junpei, this is Lavenza, a new resident of this room. I called you here this evening that the two of you might become better acquainted…in case of any future need."

"Uh, hey," muttered Junpei. "Nice to meetcha. I'm Junpei Iori."

Lavenza just nodded, still looking a little stunned.

"I know," she mumbled. "I mean…um, it's nice to meet you, too. Welcome to the Velvet Room."

She smiled, and it was sort of a sad smile.

"Hey," began Junpei hesitantly, "I'm seriously not hitting on you, or anything; I know that this sounds like a line, but…we haven't met before, right?"

Lavenza only shook her head.

"No," she said, "of course not. That wouldn't be possible…I only arrived here very recently. You must be thinking of someone else. I'm sorry."

"Yeah" agreed Junpei, nodding. "Yeah, I mean, I guess you're right. That's probably how I got here in the first place, after all. I was…you know, I was thinking about somebody else. I guess I dream about this place a lot when I start thinking about her. This is sorta like…well, it's her place, in a way. Maybe that's why you make me think of her. Oh, uh, do you know who I'm talking about? I mean, I guess if you're new, maybe you wouldn't know." He looked over at Igor and raised an eyebrow, but Igor only shrugged and smiled.

"Um," mumbled Lavenza. "No, I-!"

"Okay," began Junpei, "so…picture this; once upon a time, in, like, 2009, my best bud totally saved the world. Seems like a long time ago now, huh? I know there have been some 'wild card' users since then, but forget them; you still haven't seen anything like Mina. She was _crazy_ good; like, way better than me. Drove me batshit sometimes." He laughed.

Lavenza's smile brightened a bit.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to," she said quietly. "You two must have been very close."

"Maybe." Junpei had to think about that for a second. "I guess we were close. I mean, I was nuts about her; oh, not like, _that_ way, but…I just thought she was great. Maybe we could have been really close, one day, if, uh…if we'd had a little more time."

"I think," murmured Lavenza, "that I understand. I'm sure she thought you were pretty great, too. You seem, um, very cool, Junpei. She must have thought so."

"Oh, I don't know about that!" Junpei laughed self-consciously. "I was just a kid, back then. I wasn't so cool; I was always strutting around, making a scene, causing trouble, being an asshole…not cool at all, heh. I guess that's why I've been thinking about her so much, for the past few days. I'm sort of a mess, half the time, and I can't help but be kinda freaked out by the idea that my daughter'll see that side of me…the side of me that Mina-tan always had to put up with. There's a lot of stuff in me that doesn't exactly make for the World's Best Dad…but if Mina-tan could put up with me back then, maybe there's enough good stuff in me, too, to make it work. Uh…or maybe not. I'm really kind of lost on this one. I wish she was here to talk some sense into me. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time."

He suddenly felt incredibly stupid, pouring all of this out to a woman he'd just met, who couldn't be much older than sixteen or seventeen, tops. She was probably bored to tears. Still, there was something about that look in her eyes that inexplicably made him feel comfortable and safe. He figured she probably just had one of those faces. Anyway, it wouldn't matter in the morning. Whether this was really just a dream or not, it's not like the stuff he said in the Velvet Room was likely to come back to haunt him. These people were so polite, it was almost unsettling. They'd probably never dare call him out on being a cowardly, gushing fool.

"Your daughter." Lavenza was now gazing, fixated, on Sayuri. "Is this…your daughter?"

"Oh, yeah." Junpei nodded. "I didn't mean to bring her here. I hope this is okay. Uh, say hi, Sayuri."

He picked up Sayuri's tiny hand and waved it at Lavenza. Sayuri bubbled, twitched, then jerked her hand back.

"She's asleep," whispered Lavenza. "Don't wake her."

"Yeah" agreed Junpei. "Good point. If she wakes up and starts screaming, then we'll all wake up. Chidori'll be mad as hell. She just got to sleep, too."

"Chidori?" Lavenza tore her eyes away from baby Sayuri and looked up at Junpei again. "How is she?"

"Huh?" Junpei blinked. "Oh, um…she's fine; just tired, I think. The doctor said it's gonna take her a few days to heal up."

Lavenza's smile deepened, shone. Junpei found that he really liked that smile.

On a sudden impulse, he asked, "Hey, do you want to hold her?"

Lavenza looked startled.

"Wait, me? Do I want to hold her? I…is that okay?"

It probably wasn't okay, reflected Junpei. Chidori would never have allowed it, but, after all, what harm could Lavenza do? She was one of the Velvet Room attendants, right? She couldn't possibly hurt anybody. It'd go against her code, or whatever. Anyway, by the way she kept staring longingly at Sayuri, Junpei figured Lavenza must really like babies.

"Here," he said. Very, very carefully, he detached Sayuri from his chest, and held her out to Lavenza with both arms.

"I've never held a baby before," mumbled Lavenza, sounding almost panicky.

Junpei nodded understandingly. "Man, I hadn't either, until the other day. You're a girl, though, so you've probably got some kind of natural instinct for it. Uh, you're supposed to support her head, okay? So, like this."

Junpei deposited Sayuri in Lavenza's outstretched arms, then helped position his daughter's legs and head so that everything was properly supported. Sayuri shifted and made a soft little sound, but somehow, she didn't wake up.

Lavenza stood, frozen, gazing down at the baby in her arms, looking like a mortified Madonna painting, wide-eyed and incredibly still.

"Hey, man, you look good with a baby," said Junpei. "See, I told you you'd get the hang of it quick."

Temporarily distracted from her moment of awe, Lavenza looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I can't believe you actually said that," she said.

"Huh?" Junpei blinked. "Said what?"

"I can't believe," clarified Lavenza, "that you actually said you thought all women have some natural knack for holding babies. How stupid can you get? It's kind of sexist, too. I mean, come on, this isn't the 1900s; women are allowed to have jobs, now, instead of families, or so I hear."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Junpei held up both hands in protest, shaking his head. "Hey, you are absolutely reading that wrong; I _never_ meant that women had to be housewives or anything. It's just that-!"

He stopped, because Lavenza was grinning at him.

"Oh," he muttered, "I get it. You're yanking my chain, huh?"

"Maybe just a little bit." Lavenza laughed.

"Jeez…" Junpei sighed. "You're as bad as Yuka-tan…no wonder you remind me of Mina. She woulda liked you. You're right up her alley…"

Lavenza had returned her attention to Sayuri.

"Oh my god…she has this little tuft of hair," whispered Lavenza.

"I don't think you're supposed to touch her head, though," warned Junpei quickly. "Babies heads are really soft."

"Babies are really soft in general," returned Lavenza. "She's so-!"

"-Squishy." Junpei grinned. "Yeah. That's what I said."

Sighing to herself, Lavenza handed Sayuri back to Junpei with obvious reluctance.

"She's absolutely beautiful," she said. "Congratulations."

"Yeah," agreed Junpei, beaming, the proudest of fathers. "She is pretty great, huh? Oh, but…I guess I'd better get back to, uh, actual real-world sleep. You know, the kind that you wake up from feeling refreshed in the morning. Somehow, every time I come here, I end up feeling like I've been up all night…and I've got work tomorrow. First day at a new job…oooh…scary."

Igor nodded, and Junpei instantly began to feel the world around him starting to fade, to become indistinct. A little nervous, he took a firmer hold on his daughter, who, still looking half-asleep, started to whine.

"Nighty-night," he called to Lavenza. "Hey, it was really cool meeting you. See you around, maybe?"

Lavenza opened her mouth to say something, then paused, apparently thinking better of it. She smiled, and it was a weird sort of sad smile, again. Junpei wondered if maybe she was lonely here. Did Avatars of Power get lonely? He'd never thought about it before.

"Yeah," agreed Lavenza "Maybe. It was nice to meet you, too. Goodnight, Junpei."

Then, the Velvet Room swam out of existence, and everything faded to black.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This one has another chapter. I'll see if I can finish it tomorrow.

Also, my brain is starting to give out on me, so I apologize sincerely for any and all typos. I'll address them as soon as I can, I promise.


End file.
